Archive for the ‘Panjab’ Category

Hereby, we invite you to attend a Kisan Convention being held at Patiala on 19-20-21 May, 2007 by the People’s Democratic Front of India (PDFI) and its constituent organisations working in the agriculture sector. The convention is addressed to the burning issues that confront the peasants of India today. It will take up the question of indebtedness, suicides and the threat of land acquisition for various projects including SEZ. It will also arrange a session to discuss various movements going over on these issues throughout the country and ways and means to coordinate all these movements to initiate a countrywide united movement.

Probable Program: (The exact timing and details of the programme will be sent later.)

19-05-2007 (Saturday)

Cultural Evening and Night: Artists and cultural troops from various states will focus on Agrarian Crisis and struggle against it in various cultural forms.

(3) Third Session:The Land Acquisition for Various Projects including SEZ , Displacement and

Coordinated Peoples Movement

(4) Fourth Session:Concluding Session:

1.Reporting and Discussion on the Ongoing Movements and Struggles on Issues and Demands of Peasants /Farmers, especially against Indebtedness, Land Acquisition and SEZ

2.Future Coordination of Various Struggles/ Movements and Organisations for Building a Unified All India Movement

3.Resolutions

In this KisanPanchayat (Convention) most of the organizations, working in different part of the country on the issues and demands of the peasants / farmers, are being invited.

Your organisation is cordially invited to take part in theKisanPanchayat (Convention). Please make sure your presence and contribute in deliberations. Strengthen the solidarity of peasant organisations and build a mighty movement against WTO, MNCs and Anti-peasant Policies of Indian rulers and state.

Hereby, we invite you to attend a Kisan Convention being held at Patiala on 19-20-21 May, 2007 by the People’s Democratic Front of India (PDFI) and its constituent organisations working in the agriculture sector. The convention is addressed to the burning issues that confront the peasants of India today. It will take up the question of indebtedness, suicides and the threat of land acquisition for various projects including SEZ. It will also arrange a session to discuss various movements going over on these issues throughout the country and ways and means to coordinate all these movements to initiate a countrywide united movement.

Probable Program: (The exact timing and details of the programme will be sent later.)

19-05-2007 (Saturday)

Cultural Evening and Night: Artists and cultural troops from various states will focus on Agrarian Crisis and struggle against it in various cultural forms.

(3) Third Session:The Land Acquisition for Various Projects including SEZ , Displacement and

Coordinated Peoples Movement

(4) Fourth Session:Concluding Session:

1.Reporting and Discussion on the Ongoing Movements and Struggles on Issues and Demands of Peasants /Farmers, especially against Indebtedness, Land Acquisition and SEZ

2.Future Coordination of Various Struggles/ Movements and Organisations for Building a Unified All India Movement

3.Resolutions

In this KisanPanchayat (Convention) most of the organizations, working in different part of the country on the issues and demands of the peasants / farmers, are being invited.

Your organisation is cordially invited to take part in theKisanPanchayat (Convention). Please make sure your presence and contribute in deliberations. Strengthen the solidarity of peasant organisations and build a mighty movement against WTO, MNCs and Anti-peasant Policies of Indian rulers and state.

Peoples Democratic Front Of India (PDFI) expresses deep anguish and condolence at the departure of our respected Hari Singh Tarq, President of Association for democratic Rights, Punjab (AFDR), Convenor of Committee For the Assistance Of Tribals Affected by Salwa Judum (CATAS). He was a stalwart in defending the human rights and democratic rights of people in India and particularly in Punjab.

He always stood for the protection and promotion of the rights of the toiling and deprived masses. Hari Singh Tarq stood boldly in defence of the marginalised people right from Lehara Gaga to all India level. He struggled hard to build an all India movement for democratic Rights. He was always an important member of the fact finding teams to various parts of country e.g. Jharkhand POTA victims, Gujarat carnage, Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh state repression etc. etc., carried out by AFDR or jointly with other civil liberties organisations.

With his initiative the first programme of the chain of aprogrammes devoted to Shaheed Bhagat Singh;s Birth Centenary year started from Lehara Gaga in 2006.

For more than a decade he continuously and regularly edited a monthly journal, previously named Jan Dastak and now Shabad Baan, highlighting the democratic values in literature, culture, society and politics and exposed the exploitative and oppressive system ruthlessly and boldly.

His death is a huge loss for the democratic movement of India and particularly of Punjab.

On the fateful day he along with his comrade Des Raj Chhajali and his young son was coming back from Barnala after attending a programme in the memory of Revolutionary writer and singer Sant Ram Udasi when he met an accident near Sunam. He was declared dead when brought to Patiala Hospital. Des Raj and his son are still crtical.

We, the organisations constituents of PDFI convey our heartfelt condolences to all family members, colleagues, friends and comrades.

Faced with strong opposition from BJP and even some Congress members in Parliament, the HRD ministry has decided to replace textbook on History and delete the objectionable portions from Hindi textbooks. The casualty are noted writers like Paash, revolutionary Punjabi language literate from post-Independence era, noted historian Bipan Chandra and well-known Hindi poet Dhoomil. The changes would be applicable from the academic year 2007-08.

In a communication sent to National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), HRD ministry has asked NCERT to make suitable changes to ‘rest the air of confusion and misunderstanding’ in deference to the understanding of the Members of Parliament.

The government has decided to delete writings by two authors — Apni Khabar by Pandeya Bechan Sharma ‘Ugra’ and Mochiram by Dhoomil — in Antara-I, a Hindi textbook, and replace it by some other writing by the same authors. In the book Aaroh-I, Prem Chand’s short story Doodh Ka Daam will be replaced with another story by the same author.

“NCERT is yet to inform us on which new works of these authors are being introduced,” a HRD ministry official said. The students would no more be able to read the original work of Paash, whose poetry found extensive mention among Left revolutionaries. The NCERT has been asked to ‘suitably modify’ the poem as suggested by the Yash Pal Committee report.

“We have recommended that description of Paash as Naxal was unnecessary and needed correction,” explained Ashok Vapjayee, member of the Yash Pal Committee, constituted to examine the Hindi textbooks. The ‘objectionable’ reference to Jats and Sikhs in History textbooks which created an uproar in the Parliament and led to protest by Haryana Chief Minister Bupinder Singh Hooda have also been deleted.

The NCERT has decided to replace Bipan Chandra’s history textbook Modern India (First edition) by a new book Modern India, in which objectionable language against Jats and Sikhs have been removed, the NCERT has informed the government.

Dinanath Batra, who had filed a petition in Delhi High Court against the NCERT textbooks, said the battle is only half won. “Only eight objectionable portions have been removed. Our objections on textbooks for classes VI, VII and VIII are still there,” he said, indicating that the legal battle will continue. Hindustan Times